Miami scene and be seen

Just recovering from a Friday night studio party at the Bakehouse, between the Design district and Wynwood. 70 artists opened their studios for the evening as a fund raiser for the organization. Walking from studio to studio, I was full of excitement for the energy and the variety of work. The Bakehouse is a communal studio building for midcareer and emerging artists. There is a lot of work that, by it's very nature, speaks of exploration and materialization. Nothing was too light or pat. A lot of the work spoke of struggle. There were paintings of giant beetle bugs, portraits of the president, renderings of wigs with a Victorian era curio cabinet feel, cartoons and graffiti, installations of braided steel wool, and burned books under glass. One artist sewed photographs into a bed quilt, and then used the same photographs in 20 other installments. The studios looked like laboratories and then again... many looked like living rooms! (Artists know how to disguise a sows ear.) It was interesting in that you could see the background and formative environment to a piece that would fit nicely into your own living room. Hopefully many sales were made.
Feeling a bit snobbish... the next day I could barely recall a work or an artist that held my interest past the initial exposure. Of the few that did...there was an artist professor doing fine pastel renditions of geological treasures... a guy with a great sense of dark humor doing collage paintings of houses with hovering black clouds...and a woman doing lovely pastels of palm fronds and mangoes... and a guy doing wild surreal botanicals with his feet ("floor-als") and imagination. Those pieces showed great design, techinical skill AND an ability to carry through to a natural conclusion. As a result of all the parts being put together with grace and care, there was hope for the spiritual side of an art factory. I look forward to seeing more...

What's behind the art?

Is it hot air or inspiration?
I'm going to a couple big art parties tonight and looking forward to seeing something that will be inspirational or... at least intriguing. The headlines for the weekend say "Sex, drugs and Art walks" and that makes me feel quite forelorn. Does it have to be worded so? Is it just low pandering hype? There is definitely a gallery putting on an exhibition in the design district called, something like, "sex, drugs and provacative words ". The roster includes Nan Goldin and Damien Hirst, etc., etc. Sigh.

I just finished up a sculpture assignment in my mixed media class that was the second part of a two part assignment. The first part was pure abstraction- a focus on line, plane, form... and I will share those photos soon. But the second part was abstraction of a literal motivation. Each kid was given a different word to work with. As they created their literal renditions, they were encouraged to work with an intention greater than themselves. The successful work became iconic in that it served as a doorway to inspiration rather than as an end product.
C. made a camera and inside the cardboard object she pasted quotes and images of what she wants to see in the world. M. made a bed with sewn pillows, mattress, and kitty cat. Under the springs she glued in words about her dreams. A foreign exchange student made a fish out of water to illustrate "ocean" and her place at the moment. One student was asked to illustrate God. And that is another story I'l share another time.
The point is... there is art that is inspired, and there is most of the other stuff.

Eyes on the art room

Sometimes the easiest way to break into paint is to use the cheap paper, and work no smaller than a football. This way you avoid getting tiny and "precious" and there is no fear of wasting the good stuff. (But it all turns out to be good stuff!)

17 Alchemists and feats of Clay

Here are some sculptures just out of the kiln, made by my upper school hand building class.
Funky, funky!
There are ballerina slippers and world hiking boots, mouse shoes and duck feet, football cleats and shoes to kick squids in...
As this is my first semester teaching ceramics, I am relieved the work survived the kiln and that the glazes actually changed from dull pastels to brilliant glass. Such wild alchemy!

Figures of Class

I am so glad I moved to Miami to teach these kids. They are taking everything I offer, everything I bring to them, and learning! Working with proportions and light, perspective and some fore-shortening, my students made great strides in painting what they see, knowing what they were looking at, and playing with the idea of a figure and ground.

That's me with my bag (by me), and the rest are by kids in 8th to 12th grade. It is a sampling--- I have 37 painters in my class!

Tomorrow we are starting the proportions and details of the face.

Gaining Perspective on Halloween Candy

This is what my middle school class did with their candy. Acrylic on canvas.

Mosaic eggs

A lesson in creation, destruction and salvation